No, #NeverTrump is not over… at least it shouldn’t be.

Tonight Donald Trump accepted the GOP nomination for president of the United States. He is no longer the presumptive nominee. He’s the man now. The party belongs to him, and the GOP as we have known it is officially dead.

There will be think-pieces galore analyzing Trump’s rise. At the end of the day, the voters are responsible for this. Secretary Hillary Clinton tweeteda response tonight saying, “We are better than this.” She’s wrong about that. We aren’t, and this convention is the proof.

Even though the voters are ultimately responsible for this, I am particularly disappointed in GOP politicos who stood down when they should have stood up. Rather than resisting, in the end so many of them ended up endorsing the absurdity.

What should they have done? Over the last year, they should not have kept their powder dry for political expediency. They should not have feared alienating Trump voters. They should not have feared negative consequences for the party down-ballot.

It’s as if they could not see (perhaps would not see) that allowing Trump to be the nominee would be too risky—not just for the GOP or even for conservatism, but for the country. It was the duty of patriotic Republicans to keep Trump from the nomination no matter the political cost. They didn’t do it. Their defeat and acquiescence has been the most disheartening thing of this cycle (with Cruz being an admirable exception).

I understand that Trump is very unlikely to beat Secretary Clinton according to most polls. But is there anyone who thinks the polls are set in stone? Is there anyone who thinks that there is a limit to Trump’s demagoguery? Anything can happen between now and November. He will be merciless to Secretary Clinton, and who knows how she will respond and how that response will affect the election?

If ever the country needed its statesmen to be men of courage, it is right now. If any of you happen to be reading this, I ask you not to make your peace with the convention’s outcome. You should actively oppose the candidate through the general election. For the sake of your country, spend every bit of political capital you have to defeat him. Don’t fear. Be a statesman and a patriot.

Remember Churchill. He was exiled to the political wilderness because he stood on principle. He was dead politically. But when the truth finally became clear to everyone, the nation turned to him—precisely because he didn’t waver when everyone else did. Even if you have to spend the next ten years banished to Chartwell, it will be worth it to stop Trump.

My reasonsfor opposing Trump are not a secret. I’ve probably written about it too much in this space already. But for those of you who think my warnings about Trump are wrong, I just want you to know that I hope I’m wrong too. I really do.

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The soul of this nation is being revealed before our eyes. We are witnessing an unfolding self-inflicted tragedy. God help us. Only He can.
— Albert Mohler (@albertmohler) May 4, 2016

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P.S. Readers have asked how I will be voting this November. Thanks for asking, but I do not endorse candidates in this space. I will from time to time talk about candidates who I think are disqualified, but I do not endorse. Having said that, I cannot support either of the major party candidates. For me, it is not a binary choice. So I will probably write-in my vote.

21 Responses to No, #NeverTrump is not over… at least it shouldn’t be.

I am rarely thinking to future possibilities, but could this possibly be Judgement on us? By no means is the U.S. a chosen nation/covenantal status, but could this be like God hardening Pharaoh’s heart? Could God be giving this country what they’ve truly asked for?

I don’t understand how you can say that “For me, it is not a binary choice”. It IS a binary choice – for you and for everybody. It just is. The president is going to be either Trump or Clinton. I am as upset about that fact as anybody that reads this blog, but I won’t let that cloud my clarity of the issue. We do have reason to prefer Trump over Hillary, and we should therefore vote for him. Bring a vomit bag to the poll if you have to.

Voting for Trump will be an affirmation of everything he stands for, every word that has come out of his mouth. I respect your right to do so but please don’t think you can wash your hands of it once you leave the voting booth.

It’s remarkable how there any no longer any red lines for many traditional, socially conservative Christians. You are essentially voting for your own political doom and irrelevance as you pretend that you have no choice but to violate your conscience.

There is no lesser form of evil. A vote for Trump or Clinton is a vote for moral relativism.

Let’s say Trump is elected and proceeds to govern exactly as he has behaved, in life and throughout his campaign. Someone who voted for him would have no excuse… they knew exactly who and what they were voting for and still did it.

I’m not saying that one cannot have good reasons to prefer Trump over Clinton or vice versa.

“affirmation of everything he stands for” makes it sound like if you vote for someone you necessarily agree with every single one of that person’s policy preferences. But I don’t think the case for most people.

I don’t understand why you would say that voting for Trump would be an affirmation of “everything he stands for”. When is that ever true? I voted for Romney in 2012. It was not an affirmation of his Mormonism or his Romneycare. I voted for McCain in 2008. It was not an affirmation of McCain-Feingold or his positions on a number of things. And on and on I can go. Why is voting for a candidate necessarily any more than weighing in on a preference for one over the other?

“A vote for Trump or Clinton is a vote for moral relativism.” No. In my case a vote for Trump will be a vote against the far Left, which is the menace that is currently destroying this country. Sometimes you may have to ally with Stalin in order to defeat Hitler. (Not comparing Trump to Stalin or Hitler to Hillary, just pointing out the principle).

I don’t live in a swing state. Ergo for me it’s not a binary choice; it’s no choice at all. Barring something extremely nutty happening, or one of them dying, Trump or Clinton will be our next president. Yet by the same token, barring something nutty happening, my vote for president will have zero impact on the outcome of the election because of where I live. So I feel pretty free to vote my conscience and write in whomever I choose.

I meant ethically free and not legally free. Soldiers have fought and died for my right to free speech; that doesn’t give me ethical license to spew blasphemy (even if it’s legally protected). Soldiers have fought and died for my right to amass a huge fortune by way of capitalistic enterprise; that doesn’t give me ethical license to horde it all for my own personal benefit. Etc.

I’m obviously legally free to vote for whomever I choose. Possibly even “ethically free” *regardless* of which state I live in, though some would disagree on that count. The argument in favor of “ethical freedom” is easier to make when, by virtue of my not living in a swing state, my vote is moot with respect to actually determining the outcome of the election.

It is March 2017, The Republican Congress just passed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood abortion funding. Would you want the President to be Clinton or Trump. The Johnson Amendment would be repealed if who is President, Trump or Clinton. Who is more likely to give preference to the really prosecuted people in the Middle East, the Christians who are hated even in the refugee camps, who is more likely to help Christians, Trump or Clinton. What President will be influenced by money donors and influence peddlers Trump or Clinton. Vote for your conscience like Mr. Burk but know why you are voting. Who will at least pay lip service to Christians compared to opposition , there is a clear choice.

Bruce Cole…first I would say that I hope you give equal treatment to Hillary. Her character and judgement are horrendous. The nation’s choice is binary. #NeverTrump = #AlwaysHillary. I prefer Trump to appoint all federal judges. I prefer a Republican Congress to pass legislation without facing a Presidential veto. I prefer Trump being pulled to the right by Republicans vs Hillary being pulled to the left by Dems. It’s time for a change of leadership in all government agencies. Eight years is enough of the progressive administration. Regardless of what you can say about Trump, is there anything he has done that is as irresponsible as Hillary sending Top Secret email on an unsecured server? Hold your nose and vote for Trump.